Backwater
by Silent Angel of Time
Summary: Two young teenagers appear in W&H and it's discovered that both are the daughter of Buffy and either Angel or Spike from different universes but Cordy gets a vision from the TPTB and they must change their futures or risk the end of the world.
1. Chapter One

Author's note: I wrote out the plan for this story long before the death of Angel's leading ladies so Cordy and Fred will both be in this...Also thanks to Brandi for beta-ing for me I appreciate it a ton! 2/6 okay well I revamped this story a little bit...

* * *

"All right, so what else is needs to be covered?" Angel asks staring up and down the long meeting table his gaze finally settling on Fred, "Fred?"

Fred opens her mouth to speak but is cut off by Harmony's sudden appearance, "sorry bossy." Harmony states glancing around the crowded meeting room.

"Can it wait Harmony?" Angel asks annoyance touching his voice and features.

"It really can't boss."

"Then what is it?"

"I got a call from teleportation receiving, two beings appeared there and they were wondering if you could take care of it." Harmony responds.

"Fine," Angel sighs and faces the man sitting on his right, "finish the rest of the meeting for me, Fred, Wes, Gunn you come with me to check these things out."

Walking into the area that usually received people teleporting in Angel turned to the attendants, "what's going on?"

"They appeared out of no where, we had no idea they were coming..." The attendant stutters.

Angel turns to look through the two-way mirror that separate them from the new arrivals, "they're teenagers, you called me from a meeting for teenagers?"

"They're not from this world," the other attendant, more confident, states, "and from the readings we are getting from them they aren't from the same one."

"We'll go talk to them." Angel states leading the group through the door and into the receiving area where the two girls in their young teens stand glaring at each other from across the room. Neither one has noticed their entrance so Angel takes advantage of this sizing up both girls, the one on the far right has a red bandana tied around her light brown hair and she wears a pair of tight red jeans and an equally tight black shirt that has chains adoring both. The girl on the opposite side has blonde hair and wears a simple pair of jeans and a black shirt that covers half of her stomach. Picking up only on the scent of fear Angel clears his throat and questions, "can I help you?"

The girl in red turns ashen when she sees the group, mutters "Daddy" and then proceeds to slump into the chair she had been sitting in, in a dead faint.

Angel easily lifts the girl into his arms her into his arms as Fred suggests "we can take them both to the lab, run some tests."

While Fred moves around the lab pressing buttons and using machines no one else understands Wesley wonders, "who was she calling father?"

"Well," the second girl speaks up this time, "considering she looks a lot like him," the girl points at Angel, "and she was looking right at him when she said it, that would lead a person to believe that she was his child, but you know, that's just me."

The girl's eyes flutter open then revealing that they are the exact shade of Angel's and she jumps off of the bed and her entire body stiffens pulling her hands into fists and taking a fighting stance.

"Hey Fred, I was..." Spike wanders in then and noticing all the people his eyes settle on the blonde girl sitting in the chair just next to him, "lil' bit what are you doing here? And when did you dye your hair, you look too much like Buffy now." The girl immediately bursts into tears and launches herself at Spike, sobbing into his chest.

* * *

"She's a Summers." Spike states as the group, minus the two young teens, sit in Angel's office discussing who they could be. "Look at her and tell me she's not a Summers, I don't have a bleeding idea who the other girl is but the blonde looks just like Buffy and Dawn, she's got Joyce in her too."

"She thinks Angel is her father." Wesley adds.

"Well I want to know what the bloody hell is going on," Spike stands up then and leads the way to the small meeting room they had told the girls to wait in with Harmony. "Your mothers, who are they?"

"Buffy Summers," both girls state simultaneously, causing both to cast glares at the other.

Cordelia is the one to break the shocked silence that has covered the group, she walks into the meeting room and states, "I had a vision, I need to talk to the girls alone."

"Cordy..." Angel begins, not willing to leave until they have gotten to the bottom of this.

"Angel, you can interrogate them later." Cordelia states, "but now I have to talk to them." Once everyone his filed out of the meeting room reluctantly Cordelia turns to face the girls and asks bluntly, "are your mothers dead?"

The girl who had called Angel father nods, "when I was seven."

The second girl nods her eyes filling with tears, "last week."

Cordelia points at the girl who had been motherless for years, "so that makes you Nerice Kaiya Summers, daught of Angel and Buffy." Motioning at the other girl adds, "and you, Jerica Joyce Summers, Spike and Buffy's daughter."

"J.J." Jerica insists and then adds, "and I'm well aware of who I am and who my parents were. How do you know who I am?"

"That's my job, to just know these things." Cordelia responds, "and it doesn't matter either way. Basically you've both lived in two completely different universes and now something is about to happen and you both stand at a place where every choice you make matters. In all reality you have two futures here and both of them are bleak, what you have to do is change the future."

"Change the future? Impossible." J.J. scoffs.

"Sounds like black magic, and I refuse to have anything to do with the magics." Nerice adds with a shake of her head.

"It's not impossible and it's not black magic." Cordelia responds.

"You want us to change the future, how do we know what we are changing it to?" Nerice questions.

"That's the thing, nothing is guaranteed when you mess with the time line."

J.J. shakes her head, "uh-huh, Giles always used to say that you shouldn't mess with time."

Cordelia takes a deep breath, "the powers that be say that Buffy is important to the future and in both of your worlds Buffy doesn't survive, this is important."

Both girls fall completely silent at this and become lost in their own worlds for several minutes. Finally Nerice breaks the silence, "what are we supposed to do?"

"Right now you just have to go with the flow," Cordelia states, "I'm going to go back into Angel's office and tell them what they are allowed to know, that you are from different universes and that you are theirs and Buffy's daughters. But this is important all right, you can't tell them anything else, unless I say so." Both girls nod and Cordelia adds, "good, you guys can get to know each other."

"Cry much?" Nerice asks once Cordelia has vacated the room.

J.J. glares at her, "my father died two months ago, besides you fainted when you saw your 'father'."

Nerice looks slightly defeated at J.J.'s words, "my Dad went away when I was seven and he didn't come back, Aunt Dawn told me that he was killed by a gang of vampires."

A weird expression crosses J.J.'s face and she asks, "is Dawn alive in your world?"

Nerice nods, "yes. Isn't she in yours?"

J.J. shakes her head slowly, "she died six years ago." Her voice softens as she seems to murmur more to herself than to Nerice, "everyone is dead. Faith, Willow, Xander, Giles...everyone."

"Don't go crying again," Nerice orders and then her voice softens as she recounts the death toll in her world, "Giles is dead in my world too, Fred, Gunn, Andrew, Wood and Cordelia too. Xander and Willow are alive in my world, at least I guess they're still alive, I haven't seen them since my mother died."

"I've only met Fred and Gunn twice, when we went to Wesley and then Lorne's funereal, I was to young to really remember them though."

Both girls fall silent again and finally J.J. asks, "do you think when can change the future? Do you think maybe so many people won't die?"

Nerice thinks for a second and then shrugs, "I hope so."


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two  
  
Angel and Spike enter once the girls silence has become almost unbearable, both vampires wear stunned expressions. "Nerice why don't we take a walk?" Angel suggests.  
  
Nerice looks back and forth between Angel and J.J. and then nods, "All right."  
  
"So, Jerica would you like to take a walk as well?" Spike asks once they are left alone.  
  
"Um," J.J. takes a deep breath, "sure."  
  
Once they are out of the meeting room Spike begins to talk, "So lil' bit..." and then he stops and asks, "do I call you lil' bit, that's what I call your, well I guess your aunt."  
  
J.J. shakes her head, "You used to call me tiny bit, but then..." J.J. stops herself before she reveals anything about her life and instead she states simply, "but Mom made you stop ."  
  
Spike seems to want to inquire about this but instead he asks, "Do we have a good relationship them, get along all right?"  
  
"You and me?"  
  
"Yeah." Cordelia had ordered both Angel and Spike not to question either one of the girls about Buffy.  
  
J.J. had to look away for a moment to control the tears in her eyes as she mutters, "the best."  
  
"Then do you know how a vampire came to have a child?" Spike inquires, throwing all of Cordelia's orders out the window.  
  
"You're a..." J.J. stops quickly but by the look on Spike's face she realizes that he's all ready figured out what she wasn't supposed to tell him.  
  
Angel and Nerice had ended up at the food court, and even though she wasn't hungry she had allowed Angel to get her the soda and sandwich that now sat in front of her. Angel is the first to break the silence between the two, "We've put a call to Buffy in Italy, that's the last place we heard that she was, but it might take her awhile to get back in touch with us."  
  
"You mean she might come here?" Nerice asks, startled that she might actually get to see her mother after seven years.  
  
Angel nods, "I'm sure she will, we haven't had much contact in the last year or so, but I'm sure she'll come for this. Cordy says you guys will be here for awhile, so we've sent people over to the hotel we own and had the prepare it for your stay there."  
  
"All right." Nerice nods.  
  
"Also, Cordy says that you guys should be in school."  
  
"I don't go to school." Nerice states firmly.  
  
"Well you're going to have to, Cordelia's right."  
  
Nerice's facial expression darkens as she jumps to her feet, "You've been my father for 10 minutes and you're all ready bossing me around? You don't even know me."  
  
Angel grabs Nerice's arm as she attempts to hurry out of the room, "Hold on a second. I'm only relaying what Cordy passed on through me."  
  
"I don't do school." Nerice states glaring at her father.  
  
"You sound more like Faith then Buffy." Angel comments lightly. Nerice rips her arm back from Angel and she shifts uncomfortably at the change in conversation and Angel can't help but take notice of this. "I'm sorry Nerice, but you're going to have to go to school."  
  
Nerice sighs, "Fine."  
  
"There you guys are." Cordelia appears then with spike and J.J.  
  
"What's going on?" Angel asks.  
  
"We'll we're going shopping courtesy of Wolfram and Hart," Cordelia smiles sweetly up at Angel, "and then I thought we'd get settled in at Wolfram and Hart. We've all decided that we are going to move back into the hotel, Lorne, Gunn, Fred, Wesley, Spike too, you want to join us."  
  
Angel nods, "sure."  
  
"All right, I'll call the decorators over there now and have them open your old room up as well." Cordelia states lifting her cell phone out, "so Wolfram and Hart's credit cards?"  
  
Angel smiles at Cordelia as he hands her the credit card she wants, "Don't go to crazy all right?"  
  
Cordelia arches an eyebrow at Angel and then rolls her eyes, "Right."  
  
They all exchange good-byes and as the girls are walking away Harmony's voice is heard over the small walkie talkie she had insisted that Angel carry around with him so she could get in touch with him, "Uh boss, you've got Willow here on line one."  
  
Angel picks up the phone, "All right, I'll be right there Harmony." Spike and Angel hurry to Angel's office and Angel quickly picks up his phone. "Hello Willow. We need you here in LA. This has nothing to do with Wolfram and Hart. No, just because we work for it doesn't mean it has to do with everything. This, for the first time has nothing to do with the "evil law firm", it's important, we need Buffy here. No there's no apocalypse. Yes. All right, we'll explain later. All right. Fine. Good-bye."  
  
"Red giving you a hard time?" Spike asks once Angel has hung the phone up, slamming the receiver into the cradle.  
  
"They'll be here in two days." Angel responds. "All of them."  
  
"Uh, OK then, I have to...to take care of something, I'll see you around."  
  
By the time Cordelia, Nerice and J.J. get back to the hotel it's late and everyone else is there eating the take-out Fred and ordered. "Did you guys have fun?" Fred asks.  
  
"Oh yeah." Cordelia responds enthusiastically, "we got a lot of shopping done. We bought a lot of clothes."  
  
"What about you guys, are any of those clothes yours?" Wesley asks as everyone takes note that all three girls hold about 6 bags from various stores.  
  
"More than enough." Nerice rolls her eyes.  
  
"We had fun." J.J. responds and then rolls her eyes at Nerice, "although Nerice hated every moment of it."  
  
"Well all right, come eat." Lorne urges gesturing to the many Chinese food containers on the large table.  
  
Once they have joined the rest at the table Angel informs the girls, "I talked to Willow today, Buffy and the rest of them will be here in two days."  
  
Nerice and J.J. both exchange quick glances, pale and then stare at their plates. Nerice proceeds to break her chop sticks into small pieces as J.J. pushes the food around on her plate. The rest of the dinner everyone makes small talk and the girls excuse themselves early to go to their separate rooms and to go to bed.  
  
The people remaining at the table watch the girls leave and once they are upstairs Lorne comments, "I'm surprised at how quiet J.J. is, I expected it from Nerice but with Angel as her father I expected her to be..."  
  
"Rude?" Angel supplements.  
  
"Hey now." Spike speaks up, "Angel's off-spring is the rude one."  
  
"They've both been through a lot in their worlds." Cordelia states, "I'll pick everyone up from the airport, I'll take a Wolfram and Hart limo, I'll make the arrangements tomorrow. Anyway I'm going to bed, all this shopping has made me tired too."  
  
"I'm getting sick of all the cryptic." Spike bursts once Cordelia is gone. "We aren't being told everything." Everyone else nods in agreement and Spike states, "I want to know what's going on, and I think we should demand to know. I want to know why my daughter burst into tears the instant she saw me, but she says we have a good relationship, why Angel's daughter fainted like she saw a bloody ghost, and why neither one of them will talk about their mother. We don't even know why they are here, but Cordelia does and she should be filling us in."  
  
"I think we should at least wait until Buffy gets here, maybe that's what Cordelia is waiting for." Wesley states calmly, "we should at least wait until she gets here to do anything."  
  
In the coming chapter:  
  
Buffy comes to LA  
  
Startling conclusions are made about why Nerice & J.J. are 


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

* * *

The next day and a half everyone was jumpy, on pins and needles, waiting for the time when Cordelia would pull up in that limo with Buffy and the rest of the Scoobies. "Are you sure you guys don't want to watch some TV or something?" Angel asks, both girls were sitting on the couch in his office, silently entertaining themselves, Nerice was sharpening her knife and J.J. sat with a notepad and a pen but not writing anything.

"Boss?" The secretary box at Angel's desk broadcasts Harmony's voice, "The limo driver called, Cordelia's back from the airport."

Angel hurries over to his desk and pressing the button responds, "All right, thank you Harmony."

Both girls are on their feet and J.J. is smoothing her pink dress decorated with red roses, "Do I look okay?" J.J. asks Nerice.

"Oh yeah, gap-tastic." Nerice rolls her eyes but she too adjusts her jean capri pants and blue Tommy Hilfiger top that Cordelia had insisted she buy.

Xander leads the group and is commenting, "I can't believe Harmony is Angel's secretary. There's just nothing normal about this place."

Dawn is next and the instant she walks in the door she walks toSpikeand gives him a silent strong hugand he and recieves a "hello lil' bit" in response. And everyone else exchanges awkward greets and introductions are made for everyone except Nerice and J.J

"So is anyone going to explain why you called us all from different places across the world?"

Cordelia waves at the girls to come across the office and slowly, and shyly, the girls move to stand in front of the group, and Cordelia lays comforting hands on both of their shoulders. "This is J.J. and Nerice."

"Who are they?" Buffy asks.

"Your daughters." Cordelia responds simply.

Buffy makes a face at this comment, "I would have been, like seven, I don't think so."

"Nine." Cordelia responds.

Angel adds, "They're from an alternate universe."

"Of course!" Xander exclaims sarcastically, "I have so many different children in another universe I can't keep track of them."

Nerice's expression darkens as J.J. looks to be on the verge of tears and Nerice steps on J.J.'s foot hissing, "Don't start crying again," under her breath.

"What the hell is going on?" Buffy demands.

Cordelia explained again and this time she left the Scoobies in stunned silence looking back and forth between the girls and Cordelia. "I'm having a hard time believing this, how do I know this isn't some scam?"

Spike jumps in then, slightly angry, "Look at her love, she looks like Dawn with blonde hair, she looks like your mother."

"I didn't say I didn't believe it, it's just a hell of a lot to take in. I have two daughters in two different universes with either one of you." Buffy walks over to the girls who are sitting on the couch again and she kneels in front of them both. Gently she touches Nerice's face, "You've got the same facial structure as my mother's family," and grabbing J.J's hand she adds, "and you've got Summer's eyes."

Nerice throws her arms around Buffy's neck then hugging her tightly whispering, "I can't believe you're here."

J.J. does the exact opposite and managed to quickly weave her way through everybody and out of Angel's office and quickly manages to find an empty office. J.J. walks over to the wall opposing the desk and leaning against it she sinks to the ground and pulls her knees to her chest and buries her face, sobbing. She isn't alone for long though as Spike gently opens the door and walks over to her kneeling in front of her and gently asking, "What's wrong tiny bit?"

J.J. looks up at Spike her hazel eyes glistening with tears and her cheeks wet, "I can't talk about it." J.J.'s voice is rough from the tears, "even if I wanted to I can't."

"Please don't cry then," Spike gently urges, "I don't know if I can stand to see you cry."

J.J.'s chin quivers as she states, "There's just so...so much pain."

Spike wraps his arms around his daughter and holds her as he sobs into his chest, the two sit like that for a long time until Buffy comes in asking, "Is everything all right?"

"She'll be all right." Spike responds as he helps J.J. to her feet.

Buffy nods, "We were going to get some lunch, Nerice is coming, did you want to go J.J.?"

J.J. looks at Spike who urges, "Go on."

J.J. nods, "All right."

"Good," Buffy nods, "let's go."

They approach the group and J.J. takes note that Nerice is deep in conversation with Faith when Dawn approaches her, "You're Spike's daughter?"

J.J. nods, "Yeah, I guess."

"That's cool, so I'm an aunt, which I guess means you're my niece, but you don't have to call me Aunt...how old are you anyway?"

"I'll be 15 on June 17th, we'll I guess we both will be, we have the same birthday we checked." J.J. states.

* * *

"Nerice can I come in?" J.J. calls softly that evening once everyone else has gone to bed.

"What do you want?" Nerice asks coming to the door, her hair ruffled but she looks to awake to have been sleeping.

"Can we talk?" J.J. asks.

Nerice nods, "Yeah, come in."

"Is anyone how you know them?" J.J. asks once she has settled on Nerice's bed sitting cross-legged and facing Nerice.

Nerice shakes her head, "Everyone seems happier now, more like the way Dawn used to tell me they were."

J.J. nods, "Yeah I get that too, we have to change the future, if it means making everyone happier we have to do it."

Nerice nods, "I know but how are we going to do it though, how do you knowingly change the future?"

"You know, they're probably talking about everything now." J.J. states.

Nerice nods, "Let's go."

Sneaking to Buffy and Dawn's shared hotel room door they both press their ears to the door easily able to hear the conversation going on next door.

"How is it possible for two vampires to have children?" Xander asks.

"I think I might know." Andrew voices.

"I think they aren't telling us something." Faith states.

"You think they're holding out on us?" Kennedy asks.

"I don't think so," Willow says, "I think they are as lost as we are."

"I think I know!" Andrew says more loudly this time.

"What is it Andrew?" Buffy sounds exasperated.

"The last time I was here I learned about a prophecy." Andrew states.

"What kind of prophecy?" Wood questions.

"I looked it up after I heard about it. It's in the Scrolls of Aberjian basically it's a prophecy that says once a vampire with a soul saves the world they will regain their humanity, or that's what I got from it."

During the pause in conversation that it brought on by Andrew's statement the girls exchange glances, and finally Giles states, "If that is what this has to do with it solves everything. One vampire with a soul is radical enough and when Spike gained is soul as well it probably through the entire prophecy off balance. I believe that these girls are the product of both options, Nerice comes from the world where Angel saves the world and gains his humanity whereas J.J. comes from the world where Spike is the champion instead."

"Fine, that takes care of the how, now what about the why?" Faith asks.

"We know this part in the mystery," Nerice whispers, "lets book it back to the room before they figure out we're here and have to answer questions."

Once they are back in Nerice's room Nerice takes note of J.J.'s pale face and asks, "What, are you going to cry again?"

J.J. shakes her head, "No."

"Then what is it?"

"I just thought of something." J.J. whispers.

"What?"

"If we change the future," J.J's words come out slowly, "then one of us won't be born."

Nerice looks taken aback, "I guess I never thought of it that way."

"I'm going to bed." J.J. states, "I'll see you in the morning." 


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Authors note: Just to let you know this chapter is done solely in flashbacks in the form of dreams of both Nerice and J.J.

* * *

Seven-year-old Nerice Summers was playing with her dolls on the floor. Technically she should be in bed but Aunt Fred, who had been baby-sitting while Mommy and Daddy patrolled, had been called away half-an-hour ago by a sad looking Uncle Wes. Then there had been some loud noises coming from the living room, but Nerice was used to that, her house was the most busy at night, people were always coming over to talk to Mommy and Daddy. When Aunt Willow and Uncle Xander came in Nerice wasn't startled either, she was used to her baby-sitters changing through out the night, so she asked them to read her a story.

"Sweetie we can't read you a story right now, we have to talk to you about something really important," Aunt Willow and Uncle Xander sit on the floor with Nerice and Aunt Willow asks, "you wanna come sit with us.

Nerice thinks for a second and she moves closer to her adoptive aunt and uncle asking, "What's going on?"

Aunt Willow opens her mouth but only manages to say, "Well sweetie we have something important to tell you..." Before she begins crying.

"Uncle Xander what's going on?" Nerice looks between both of the adults in the room.

"Well," Uncle Xander's voice sounds funny, like Aunt Willow's, "You know how your Mommy and Daddy went out to patrol tonight?"

Nerice nods, "They go out every night, it's their job that's why they can't stay with me. Are they home early?" Nerice jumps up eager to see her parents before Aunt Willow and Uncle Xander make her go to bed.

Uncle Xander quickly grabs Nerice and turns her to face him, "Sweetie you have to listen very carefully to what I have to say. Mommy was in a really bad fight and she's not going to come home."

"Will she be back tomorrow?"

Uncle Xander shakes his head sadly, "She's not coming home, ever."

"We're moving? But I like my new school!" Nerice exclaims, suddenly angry at her mother for making them move again.

"Nerice, your Mom went to Heaven, she's with your Grandma Joyce and Uncle Andrew."

Nerice's face makes an expression she only uses when she is angry, Mommy always says that it looks like Daddy's face does when he's angry. "Stop being goofy Uncle Xander!" Nerice using strength she rarely had to use pulls out of Uncle Xander's grasp and hurries into the living room. She can see the back of her Daddy's head and exclaims, "Daddy! Uncle Xander's telling ly..." Daddy turns around then and Nerice suddenly knows that Uncle Xander wasn't lying.

"Rice, baby." Daddy stands up, using the nickname only Daddy called Nerice.

"No." Nerice shakes her head her eyes dark eyes fill with tears turning around immediately she dodges Uncle Gunn and Uncle Robin and straight out the front door. Nerice knows she's not supposed to be outside after dark but she doesn't care, she hasn't gone very far when she feels strong arms grab her around the waist. "Let me go." Nerice struggles against the person holding her.

"Chill N," Aunt Faith's words are soft, more gentle then Nerice has ever heard them and that scares her, it makes the situation so much more real. Aunt Faith is never sad,"it's all right, shh, it's all right." Nerice sobs as Aunt Faith holds her, gently stroking her hair as she cries.

* * *

14-year-old J.J. Summers sits at the window seat in her new apartment staring at the traffic of New York City. She hated New York, more than anything she wished she could be back in Greece, she loved Greece but since her Dad died her mother couldn't stand Greece, she couldn't stand being there without him, and here they were in New York, where it was loud and dirty. New York didn't seem any better anyway, everyone else was dead except for Robin and Andrew who lived with them.

"J.J. we need to talk." Andrew stands in front of J.J. without her realizing he had even come into the apartment.

"What's up?" J.J. asks dropping her pen on top of the notebook, her father had urged her to keep a notebook to write down the poetry that constantly came to her.

"J.J. well, there's been an accident." Andrew looks older than he actually is and today he looks older than even that, he has a scar starting at the edge of his right eyebrow, cutting in a circle around his eye and to the top of his lip.

Nerice shakes her head, "No."

"Wood just got back, there was nothing he could do. J.J., I'm so sorry but there's nothing, J.J. your mother is dead."

J.J. doesn't respond, instead she pulls her knees to her chest and leans her face on her knees staring out the window and ignoring Andrew. He wants to talk, J.J. knows he does, but she doesn't want to talk, she's tired of talking after everyone she loves dies, she's tired of loving and then watching them die. J.J. stares out the window, watching the traffic pass under it, no New York sure isn't any better than anywhere else; people still die there just like they did in Greece, Cleveland, Austin, Brazil and everywhere else. No New York sure as hell wasn't any better. 


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

* * *

Both girls woke up the next morning to Cordelia knocking on both of their doors informing them that they had school in two hours. J.J. appears first, "How are we going to school? I mean how do you have us registered?"

Cordelia grins at J.J. and Nerice who appears looking none to pleased to be up, "Let's just say Angel pulled some strings. Dawn's going to, to finish up her senior year. Now come on Buffy made waffles and there are 12 very hungry people downstairs waiting for you to eat."

Once they are settled around the table Dawn states, "So we decided that it would probably be easiest to explain if we just told everyone that we were sisters, thefour of us."

Nerice and J.J. nod, "All right."

"Xander and I will take you guys today," Buffy informs.

"Buffy, unlike some people, I can drive." Dawn insists.

Buffy nods, "I know, and Dawn will be driving starting tomorrow."

"So what is everyone doing today?" J.J. questions everyone sitting around the table.

"G-man's showing Wood and I around LA today, you know I never really got to know the city when I was locked up." Faith states, "Thanks, by the way for getting me off the Most Wanted list."

Gunn shrugs, "It was nothing."

"I'm going to show Willow the science lab and Wolfram and Hart." Fred states.

"Andrew's decided to follow me around all day." Spike states.

"Wes and I will be researching for most of the day." Giles responds.

"Buffy, Kennedy and I are going to check out all of Wolfram and Hart." Xander adds.

"Sounds better than school." Nerice sighs.

"You'll have fun," Buffy insists and then glancing at her watch she jumps up, "but we should all be getting ready to leave the hotel."

* * *

"Well, have fun." Buffy offers once Nerice, J.J. and Dawn get out of the car in front of the private school Angel had enrolled them in.

"But not too much fun," Xander adds, "and avoid the basement."

The group of teenage girls roll their eyes chorusing, "Bye!"

"So we should get out schedules right away and go from there, I guess." Dawn states once Xander and Buffy have pulled out of the parking lot.

"You must be the Summers sisters." The secretary at the front desk greets them with a big smile as she sets to printing their schedules.

Dawn nods, "Yes, we are."

Reading over their made-up transcripts the secretary looks up, "Well whatever brought you to LA from Rome?"

"A family emergency." Dawn responds quickly.

"Well it must be interesting living with your sister all over the world, you live with your sister right?"

Dawn nods, "yes we live with our sister, and it's very interesting to travel."

"All right well Dawn this is your schedule, we tried to reproduce your schedule from Rome as much as possible." The secretary hands Dawn a slip of gold paper, "and you two are twins correct?"

Nerice nods, "Yes, we are."

"We figured you would be most comfortable with the same schedule, transferring so far into the year and all."

"Thank you." J.J. responds accepting their schedules.

"All right, we'll meet me outside the cafeteria before lunch, all right?" Dawn asks once the girls leave the office.

"Yeah, see you at lunch." Nerice calls before J.J. drags her off toward their first class.

* * *

"How was the first day?" Xander is alone when he picks them up from school at the end of the day.

"It was fine." The girls all respond.

"How was Wolfram and Hart?" Dawn questions.

"I still think that it's an evil operation, even with just one eye I can see that, Buffy sees it too, but until we can figure out what to do about Nerice and J.J. we'll be sticking around."

"How did you loose your eye?" Nerice questions, "I always wondered."

Xander and Dawn exchange glances in the front seat and Nerice immediately realizes her mistake. Xander then gives a brief explanation of what happened.

J.J. quicky changes the topic after the explanation, "Where is everyone?"

"Back at Wolfram and Hart, that's where we are going now." Xander responds. Once Xander pulls into the parking lot he states, "I'm going to hang out here for awhile, I'll be up later."

"I'm going to go see Willow and Fred in the science lab." Dawn states when they get inside.

Nerice and J.J. continue alone on a search for their fathers and head toward Angel's office, but before they get inside they are stopped by the raised voices coming from inside. They are to late to hear Buffy's comment but Spike's come through clear, "Oh sure, like you haven't made any mistakes."

"I never claimed that I've never done anything, but how can you just tell Andrew not to tell me. I thought, God Spike, I thought you loved me but to keep this from me. I can't believe you."

"Right, like that's what you wanted to hear, that I was alive and well and in LA with the love of your life, your soul mate. You have no idea what you want Buffy, I wasn't about to go mess up whatever good thing you had in Rome."

"Where do you get off making my decisions for me?" Buffy asks and the girls can hear her frustrated sigh from outside the door. "It doesn't matter Spike, the girls are coming back to Rome with me."

"You can't." Angel's voice allows the girls to know that he is in there as well.

"Excuse me?" Buffy snaps, "I'm not about to have two impressionable young teenagers raised around an evil law firm."

"We're fixing it." Angel responds.

"Right, fine, you're fixing it. But it's still evil Angel! Take you for example, you're great, the Champion of the people, but Angel, deep down Angelus is still there and every once in awhile he appears no matter how good you are." Buffy sounds sad as she says the final words.

"Eavesdropping?" Cordelia soft words cause the girls to jump. "Come with me for a minute, all right?"

The girls follow Cordelia into the empty office J.J. had found earlier that week, "What's going on?" Nerice asks.

Cordelia takes a deep breath, "The powers that be are saying that the time is coming closer, and that you need to figure out what you are going to do about changing the future. I know you know about the champion, and I know that it makes more sense now and I hate to put all of this pressure on you. You have to make a choice, you need to choose whether you are going to do anything at all, because you don't have to, you can choose to stay in this world or you can come up with a plan to change the future. I'm going to leave you guys to talk this over, give you some time."

"So basically they are telling us that we either have to make the choice to essentially kill our mother or make sure that one of us won't exist in the end. I don't know about you but this bites." J.J. snaps. 


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

* * *

"No, I won't do this." Nerice declares, "it's not happening like this, we are going to do it my way."

"There's no way that I'm letting the future end up at my world." J.J. states, "nobody is alive there, everyone is dead, what kind of future is that?"

"No worse than the one I live in." Nerice responds, "I was raised by Faith and Dawn, and don't get me wrong but nothing is right in that world. Faith isn't like the Faith you know, she's terrified, her husband was killed by vampires and she's scared. Did you know when I was five our house was invaded while I was sleeping and my parents were on patrol? They wanted me so Andrew hid me in a closet and then I watched them torture him to death when he refused to tell them where I was. Willow's evil and as for everyone else they are either dead or dropped off the face of the planet."

"And everyone is dead in my world, my...our...mother basically gave up when my Dad died, I can't doom her to that either." J.J. suddenly notices the look on Nerice's face and turning slowly she realizes that their loud voices have drawn the attention of everyone they had been talking about, and just about everyone looks sheet white and/or on the verge of tears.

"I'm so sorry." J.J. states her on face going pale as she forces the tears to stop falling.

"It's all right," Cordelia nods, "it's fine. Why don't you guys let me talk to the girls alone?"

"Cordy we're so sorry." Nerice states quickly once Cordelia has literally shoved everyone out of the room.

"It's fine." Cordelia responds calmer than the girls had expecter her to be. "This was destined to happy, it means that the apocalypse is set into motion and that you need to figure out what you are doing, and the sooner the better."

"But we can't decide who's world to end." J.J. states, "how do you make that decision?"

"I can't tell you what to do." Cordelia states.

Nerice gasps suddenly and the states, "I have an idea, but I don't think we can do it here in the office."

Cordelia nods, "all right I will try to get everyone into Angel's office and keep them there, good luck."

"What's your idea?" J.J. questions once Cordelia has gone.

"When I was really little, back before my parents died there was this psycho-freak vampire. I don't remember her name, all I really remember is that when I met her she wanted to give me a doll, said the stars wanted me to have her. Anyway, she was a real nutcase and they didn't want her running around so Willow gave her a soul to protect our family..."

"So? My dad and your dad both have souls what does this have to do with anything?" J.J. asks. "We can't take their souls away because that would just be dumb."

"Duh." Nerice responds. "But what if we give someone else a soul to throw off the balance?"

J.J.'s eyebrows rise in interest, "could work, but who?

"I haven't got that far ahead in my thought process." Nerice responds, "but we have to find that spell."

"It's probably in Wes' office." J.J. states, "I mean you'd think they'd keep it around just in case."

"Yeah," Nerice nods, "let's hope Cordelia got everyone into Angel's office so we don't get caught and have to explain."

* * *

The girls manage to sneak out of the office and into Wesley's without being caught, thanks to Cordelia who they could hear taking the brunt of everyone's shock in Angel's office. After a 20 minute search J.J. found it and Nerice hurries over to her and as J.J. is reading the spell over and she sighs, suddenly realizing several things, "ok problem."

"What?" Nerice sighs.

"Firstly how are we supposed to get everything? And secondly how are we actually going to do the spell? I don't know about you but I don't have a single ounce of magical abilities in me."

Nerice shrugs, "I don't know, because it's not like we are calling Willow in here."

"You don't trust her with this?" J.J. asks.

Nerice shakes her head, "she's into the black magics, no way am I trusting her with this."

"Dawn!"

"What?"

"My dad told me a story once about how Dawn did a spell that brought my, our, grandmother back from the dead. She succeeded in doing it but she was brave enough to undo the spell before it could have any harmful effects." J.J. recounts.

Nerice nods, "Dawn's a good choice. But how'll we get her in here?"

"Hang on," J.J. walks over to the desk and picking up the phone dials and in an authentic sounding New York accent she says, "I need to speak to Dawn Summers immediately please." J.J. taps her fingers on the desk as she waits and when Dawn obviously comes back on the phone she says, "Dawn, it's J.J., Nerice and I really need to talk to you, can you sneak in here?"

"All right, good."

When Dawn slips into the room they quickly explain the situation to her and she nods, "all right, I think I can help. We need to get into the magics department and get everything we need."

The three teenagers slip out of the office but Dawn stops them before they can go any further, "wait what vampire are we going to curse?"

"What are you brats doing?" Harmony calls out just then.

"Nothing Harmony!" Dawn calls back as the girls exchange glances and nods, Harmony it was.

Nearly 45 minutes later the three sneak back into the room their arms are full of the supplies and books they need, but all three nearly drop everything when they see Cordelia sitting at the desk, "well you guys figured it out."

"We did?" Nerice asks.

Cordelia nods, "I knew you would."

"So what happens to us now, after the spell I mean?" J.J. asks.

"Your worlds will cease to exist." Cordelia responds sadly.

Nerice and J.J. exchange glances and then both girls nod, their faces are resolved and they don't seem to falter at this news. "No!" Dawn exclaims, "Cordy, there has to be another way!"

Cordelia shakes her head, "there isn't Dawn, J.J. and Nerice are prepared to do what they must to keep the world safe, they take after all of their parents in that way."

"So I'm what, just supposed to live with the idea that I have destroyed their existence? I can't do that, these are Buffy's children, she's going to be heartbroken if she has to live with the idea that the kids she's grown attached to are no longer in existence."

"That's not the way it will happen, The Powers will erase their memories from everyone."

"How do you even know that Harmony will save the world?" Dawn asks tears streaming down her cheeks. "She is Harmony."

"Harmony being hired as Angel's secretary was no coincidence. The Senior Partners hired her to work against Angel and all of her plans have been in place since the beginning and she is ready to put her plans in motion. She's been waiting for a time to catch Angel off guard."

"Dawn are you sure you can do this?" Nerice questions.

J.J. nod firmly, "I know she can do it."

"Do you speak Romanian?" Nerice asks.

"Enough to do the spell." Dawn responds and taking a deep breath she waves her hands nervously in front of her as if to expel the nervous energy. "All right, I'm ready." Dawn glances over the text. "Everyone ready?"

J.J. and Nerice nod firmly and Cordelia says, "you will only have a few seconds for the spell to take effect."

J.J. and Nerice nod, "all right." They turn to Dawn, "we're ready."

Dawn takes a deep breath and begins speaking steady Romanian, "Te implor, Doamne, nu ignora aceasta rugaminte. Nici mort, nici al fiintei...Lasa orbita sa fie vasul care-i va transporta, sufletul la el. Asa sa fie! Asa sa fie! Acum! Acum!"

"Did it work?" Dawn asks once she has stop speaking in Romanian, a bead of sweat lines her forehead.

J.J. and Nerice nod and J.J. responds, "it worked."

"So this is it?" Dawn asks.

"I guess so." Nerice shrugs.

"Thank you." Dawn whispers.


	7. Epilogue

Epilogue

Athens, Greece

A man rushes into a hospital room, "am I late? Did Megan all ready..." The man let's his sentence trail.  
"No sir, your wife is just in there." The nurse directs him toward a room.  
"She's not my wife," the man calls over his shoulder but he bursts into the room, "am I to late?"  
"Daniel, you made it," the young woman smiles, "just in time, we have two daughters."

"Have you two chosen names for them?" The nurses aks as she settles one of the babies into Daniel Osbourne's arms.

Oz nods, "Jerica and Nerice, they both mean strong. They both need strong names. They're important to the world."

The nurse smiles as she settles the second baby into Oz's free arm, "all babies are."

Oz doesn't bother to tell the nurse that they were more important to the world then most people would ever know, the nurses and doctor, even Megan, had no idea that these were the two who were prophesied. The two who would save this world, but it wasn't their time. Yet.

The End

I think


End file.
